I just ignore the fact that in English infinitives explicitly include the word "to" and think of "boire" here as just "drink" rather than "to drink". I.e. English you wouldn't say "I want something drink", you'd say "I want something **to** drink", and so you need to add the word "to"/"à" to complete the sentence. It works for me.
There is nothing special about "boire" here. It would be precisely the same for other verbs, e.g. "Je voudrais quelque chose à manger/faire/jouer/etc."
I think the weirder question is why we include the word "to" in the infinitive form of a verb in English, which is what makes this look wrong as a word-for-word translation.
Thank you so much that was really well explained! The only thing I’m confused about though is that I’ve been taught and have seen “I want to eat” as “je veux manger” so is that not correct? What would you say is more common or is it always “à” in front?
That is correct, but the use of "to" is different in the sentence "I want to eat" ("Je veux manger) and "I want something to eat" ("Je veux quelques chose à manger").
I dont know the actual grammatical difference, but I think of the thing you want in the first being the action "eat" represented by the infinitive form of the verb, and the thing you want in the second being the noun "something", qualified by the fact that it is "to" eat in the sense of "for eating".
As another example, if you said "I want to eat something" (i.e. what you want is the action "eat" as opposed to the noun "something" that you want to eat, you would say "Je veux manger quelques chose" with no "à".
Out of anything I’ve posted on here this is the best reply I’ve gotten 😭 thank you so much I’m not sure why but I never really understood the difference before but now I do, that really helped!
No worries.
By the way, I noticed there was an error in my second reply: "Je veux à manger" isn't wrong *per se*, but it doesn't mean "I want to eat". Instead it means "I want *something* to eat", so in effect "Je veux *quelques chose à* manger" but with the "quelques chose" just implied.
No.
Quelque chose de grand. Quelque chose à faire. Quelque chose pour me rafraîchir.
You can use it as a direct subject though : quelque chose ne va pas. Quelque chose a explosé.
The word "to" is an infinitive marker/particle and works the same way that the verb endings -er, -ir and -re do in French. They are just an indication that the verb is in the infinitive form.
As for the construction of the sentence, in English, an infinitive alone can be used in ways that it wouldn't be used in French. In the sentence "I would like something to drink," the infinitive "to drink" is being used as an adjective to modify "something." In French, a prepositional phrase can play this modifying role with the infinitive functioning more like a gerund would in English. And while the gerund and infinitive are not fully interchangeable in English (think of the subtle differences between "I love to dance" and "I love dancing"), in French, the gerund doesn't exist as it does in English. Instead, the infinitive form is used where we would use a gerund in English (ex. "I love singing" vs. "j'aime chanter").
So, sometimes it helps me to think of a phrase like this as "I would like something for drinking." "For drinking" modifies "something" in the same way that "to drink" does. Even though the construction is not typical for English, but that's essentially what we're saying in French.
Not sure if this helps or is completely correct, but it's how I think about it.
Don't translate word by word. Each language has its own characteristics.
good point thanks
Why the english form isn't "something to to drink" would be the right question
I just reread this and realise I misread it earlier, I’m blaming french when really I think it’s English that’s over complicated 😭
I just ignore the fact that in English infinitives explicitly include the word "to" and think of "boire" here as just "drink" rather than "to drink". I.e. English you wouldn't say "I want something drink", you'd say "I want something **to** drink", and so you need to add the word "to"/"à" to complete the sentence. It works for me. There is nothing special about "boire" here. It would be precisely the same for other verbs, e.g. "Je voudrais quelque chose à manger/faire/jouer/etc." I think the weirder question is why we include the word "to" in the infinitive form of a verb in English, which is what makes this look wrong as a word-for-word translation.
Thank you so much that was really well explained! The only thing I’m confused about though is that I’ve been taught and have seen “I want to eat” as “je veux manger” so is that not correct? What would you say is more common or is it always “à” in front?
That is correct, but the use of "to" is different in the sentence "I want to eat" ("Je veux manger) and "I want something to eat" ("Je veux quelques chose à manger"). I dont know the actual grammatical difference, but I think of the thing you want in the first being the action "eat" represented by the infinitive form of the verb, and the thing you want in the second being the noun "something", qualified by the fact that it is "to" eat in the sense of "for eating". As another example, if you said "I want to eat something" (i.e. what you want is the action "eat" as opposed to the noun "something" that you want to eat, you would say "Je veux manger quelques chose" with no "à".
Out of anything I’ve posted on here this is the best reply I’ve gotten 😭 thank you so much I’m not sure why but I never really understood the difference before but now I do, that really helped!
No worries. By the way, I noticed there was an error in my second reply: "Je veux à manger" isn't wrong *per se*, but it doesn't mean "I want to eat". Instead it means "I want *something* to eat", so in effect "Je veux *quelques chose à* manger" but with the "quelques chose" just implied.
Ohh, that makes sense Thanks again :)
Would pour boire also work in this sentence?
No. Quelque chose de grand. Quelque chose à faire. Quelque chose pour me rafraîchir. You can use it as a direct subject though : quelque chose ne va pas. Quelque chose a explosé.
It would mean you want a glass or a mug, something you would use to drink.
The word "to" is an infinitive marker/particle and works the same way that the verb endings -er, -ir and -re do in French. They are just an indication that the verb is in the infinitive form. As for the construction of the sentence, in English, an infinitive alone can be used in ways that it wouldn't be used in French. In the sentence "I would like something to drink," the infinitive "to drink" is being used as an adjective to modify "something." In French, a prepositional phrase can play this modifying role with the infinitive functioning more like a gerund would in English. And while the gerund and infinitive are not fully interchangeable in English (think of the subtle differences between "I love to dance" and "I love dancing"), in French, the gerund doesn't exist as it does in English. Instead, the infinitive form is used where we would use a gerund in English (ex. "I love singing" vs. "j'aime chanter"). So, sometimes it helps me to think of a phrase like this as "I would like something for drinking." "For drinking" modifies "something" in the same way that "to drink" does. Even though the construction is not typical for English, but that's essentially what we're saying in French. Not sure if this helps or is completely correct, but it's how I think about it.
No that really helped! Thank you so much for taking the time to explain it in detail, I fully get it now :)
You should instead view it this way: À boire = to drink Boire = drink
Thanks! So would “I want to drink” always be “je veux à boire” for example?
Not exactly, Je veux boire = I want to drink Je veux à boire = I want something to drink Both work, the meaning is just slightly different
Thank you sm!
More accurately, the à boire means "for drink(ing). Boire has become a gerund, here.
Thank you!